Bystanders rescue man after wheelchair rolls off DC Metro platform at station

WASHINGTON – A man was rescued from the tracks at a Washington Metro station after his wheelchair rolled off the platform.

Surveillance video shows two bystanders jumping onto the tracks to lift the man and his wheelchair back onto the platform Tuesday afternoon at the U Street station. A Metro spokesman says the nearest train was three stops away when the bystanders jumped onto the tracks.

Metro says the man who fell had a bloody mouth but no other visible injuries. He was taken to a hospital for treatment. It wasn't clear why the man's motorized wheelchair rolled off the platform.

Metro spokesman Dan Stessel says the man who fell was not in imminent danger of being struck by a train, but the greater danger was from the electrified third rail.